Jury indicts Amarillo dentist on 11 counts of Medicaid fraud of more than $1.5 million

If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each felony count

AMARILLO — For more than three years, an Amarillo orthodontist defrauded Medicaid of more than $1.5 million by performing services he knew were solely cosmetic and scheduling dozens of patients on a daily basis, according to a federal indictment returned Wednesday.

A Fort Worth grand jury indicted Michael David Goodwin, 63, on 11 counts of health care fraud for claims from January 2008 to March 2011, court records show. Up to 95 percent of Goodwin’s patients during that time were Medicaid beneficiaries, prosecutors said.

Messages left for Goodwin at his Amarillo office, 3629 Wolflin Ave., were not returned.

The indictment follows more than a year of FBI scrutiny of Goodwin’s personal and business finances. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each felony count.

Goodwin practiced two weeks a month at his Indiana office and spent the other two weeks in his Amarillo office, where he completed Medicaid forms for reimbursements before he saw any patients, prosecutors said. He also scheduled more patients in a day than one doctor could treat while complying with Medicaid rules and minimum care standards, prosecutors said.

“Employees regularly scheduled more than 100 patients per day and intentionally scheduled large numbers of Medicaid patients for days when Goodwin was scheduled to be out of town,” the indictment said.

The orthodontist did not properly educate his staff on compliance with Medicaid rules, the document said.

When he was not in Amarillo, Goodwin created a “generic treatment guideline” for dental assistants to follow when they treated patients without supervision, the records said. By April 2009, the defendant hired substitute doctors without orthodontist training and who were not enrolled Medicaid providers to “create the appearance of direct supervision,” the indictment said.

Goodwin reserved the substandard treatment only for Medicaid patients, personally examining patients who paid cash for their treatments at nearly every scheduled appointment, the records said.

Prosecutors also are seeking the forfeiture of $1.5 million in restitution and more than $244,000 in funds seized during the investigation.

Goodwin’s Texas dentist license expires Oct. 31, according to the State Board of Dental Examiners. The board’s website listed no disciplinary action against Goodwin.

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Thank God somebody was paying attention and one of society's crooks will be out of business. I would guess there are thousands of these guys getting by with the exact same thing. Good and honest health care is a thing of the past.